Tools I use
Teach AI a task one time
You explain the same job to AI every week. A skill lets you explain it one time. In 15 minutes, you write your first one.
- Skill
- A short note of instructions that AI reads every time it does one job.
- Prompt
- The message you type to an AI.
- Trigger
- The words that tell the AI to use a skill.
01 · The question
Every Friday, the same ten minutes
Every Friday you send a client a short update. Each time, you open an AI and explain it again: who the client is, how long it should be, what tone, what format.
In week three, you forget the format. The update looks different. The client notices.
You think: there must be a way to say this one time.
What is the way? Make your guess below.
A made-up case. No real client is involved.
02 · Your guess
How do you stop repeating yourself?
A wrong guess costs nothing. Guessing first helps you remember the answer. Pick one to open the next part of the lesson.
03 · The 6 steps
Six steps from a repeated job to a recipe card
Press Next step to see each step. Steps 1 to 4 write the card. Steps 5 and 6 put it to work.
04 · Remember
A skill is a recipe card, not a memory.
The AI does not learn from you in the chat. It starts fresh each time and reads the card. So the card must hold everything it needs.
Here is a tiny example. It is a real skill file, only shorter:
---
name: weekly-update
description: Write my weekly client update. Use when I say "weekly update".
---
1. Ask me for 3 wins and 1 open problem.
2. Write 5 lines: wins first, then the problem, then next week.
3. Use plain words. No hype. No sign-off.
Shape: a subject line, 3 bullets, one question.The two lines between the --- marks are the name and the trigger. Claude Code reads them first.
In the kitchen
A restaurant has a recipe card on the wall. A new cook reads it and makes the same soup as the chef. Nobody rewrites the soup every day.
On the court
The coach draws a play once. Every player reads the card, and the team runs it the same way every night.
A good skill has 3 parts
- When. One line with the words that start it.
- Steps. 3 to 5 short steps, in order.
- Shape. A tiny example of the finished text.
Why a skill, and not one long chat?
A long chat can bury your first instructions. A card is short, and the AI reads it first, every time. You can also read it, fix it and share it. This is how my write-a-skill skill works: a short main file, and extra files only when the main one gets long.
05 · Two checks
Pass two checks to finish
A miss is fine. Each miss gives you a new case.
Check 1 of 2 · Pick the right skill idea
Check 2 of 2 · Write your own tiny skill
Write a tiny skill for the job below. Use 3 parts: a when line, steps and the shape of the result.
This checker looks for words only. It is not an AI.
06 · Tell a friend
Your one-minute answer
Say it in your own words. Here is a version you can use:
The one-minute version
"A skill is a recipe card for AI. You write the job one time, in a short note: when to use it, 3 to 5 steps, and what the result looks like. The AI reads the card every time and does the job the same way. In Claude you can use Skills or a Project. In ChatGPT you can use custom instructions or a custom GPT. When the result misses, you fix the card, not the result."
| Claude | Skills, or a Project with your note as instructions. |
| ChatGPT | Custom instructions, or a custom GPT. |
| Claude Code | A folder with a SKILL.md file. This is how I do it. |
Some of these need a paid plan. Menu names change fast.
Try it today · 10 minutes · safe
Pick a job you do every week. Open ChatGPT or Claude. Paste this:
I do this job every week: [describe the job]. Ask me 3 questions, one at a time. Then write a skill note for it: a name, one line that says when to use it, 3 to 5 steps, and the shape of the result. Keep it under 15 lines.Save the note in one of the places above. Next week, use it. Fix the note when the result misses.
Check: did you skip explaining the job a second time? That is the whole point.
Stuck? Ask the AI: "explain a skill note like I am new".
Get this skill
write-a-skill: Matt Pocock's method plus my own rules. Free. The page has step-by-step install help.